Response from SCARF (11.07.15):
Building a PAWSitive Future Campaign Kick Off! Introduction of The Bob Sargeant & Family Shelby County Animal Shelter & Adoption Center! Unveiling of the Campaign Thermometer @ RE/MAX One in Downtown Sidney. Click HERE to learn more & donate to our Building a PAWSitive Future Campaign! Click here for SDN article.

Left to Right: Shelby County Commissioner & SCARF Vice President Julie Ehemann, Community Foundation of Shelby County Executive Director Marian Spicer, donor Lawrence Piper, of Anna, and SCARF President Eric Barr.

Response from SCARF (02.19.15):
Building a PAWSitive Future Update! Michael Barnard from Shelter Planners of America was in town to deliver the Concept & Design of our NEW Shelter & Adoption Center. Next step will be to tweak the plans and move forward w/the final design. Please stay tuned for more information on the Building a Pawsitive Future Campaign! Click here for SDN article

Response from SCARF (01.22.15):
After several weeks of reviewing the Needs Assessment Study from Shelter Planners of America, the Board unanimously approved the needed changes & updates. The Board also approved to contract w/Shelter Planners of America for Step 2, the Concept & Design phase of the project. Please stay tuned for more information on the Building a Pawsitive Future Campaign!

Response from SCARF (11.25.14):
We are excited to announce that we have opened our Building a PAWSitive Future Fund at The Community Foundation of Shelby County. Our first contributors were longtime SCARF supporters John& Margaret Humphris. End of year tax-deductible donations are now being accepted @ www.commfoun.com/give/donate.php (search SCARF Building a PAWSitive Future Fund on the drop-down menu). You can also call The Community Foundation @ 937.497.7800. Pictured are John & Margaret Humphris, SCARF Treasurer Cheri Dalton, Community Foundation Executive Director Marian Spicer & SCARF President Eric Barr. Click here for SDN article.

Response from SCARF (11.18.14):
Michael Barnard, President of Shelter Planners of America, was in town to conduct our Needs Assessment Study. We should receive the results in 4 - 6 weeks. We also launched our Campaign logo designed by Pam Fultz. Please stay tuned for more information on the Building a Pawsitive Future Campaign!

Response from SCARF (10.16.14):
In a Landmark vote, the SCARF Board voted unanimously to hire Shelter Planners of America to serve as consultants throughout the entire process. We will soon engage with their Needs Assessment Study. Please stay tuned in the coming months for more information on the Building a Pawsitive Future Campaign!

Response from SCARF (07.30.14):
We are very excited about this announcement and thank the Commissioners for their overwhelming support! Although many hours of work have been spent in getting us this far, this is just the first step in a long process and there is still a lot of work to do. We will now begin to move forward in our planning process and will provide details to the public as we can. Please stay tuned in the coming months for more information on the Building a Pawsitive Future Campaign!

Commissioners surprise SCARF with land vote

SIDNEY — In a move that surprised presenters, Shelby County commissioners voted Tuesday to find land on which the Shelby County Animal Rescue Foundation (SCARF) can build a new animal shelter.

Eric Barr, SCARF president, Joe Laber, vice president, Nicole Laber, secretary, Cheri Dalton, treasurer, and Shelby County Sheriff’s Deputy Cami Frey, director of the Shelby County Animal Shelter, met with commissioners expecting to take the first steps in exploring the possibility of such a donation. When commissioners heard SCARF’s presentation, however, they decided then and there to identify four acres of land for the project.

“We’re looking at trying to keep it as close to the sheriff’s department as possible. The county will own whatever is built on the site,” Commissioner Julie Ehemann told the Sidney Daily News after the meeting. Ehemann sits on the SCARF board and therefore abstained from the commission vote.

A new shelter has been a topic of discussion for members of the SCARF board since the organization’s inception two years ago, according to Barr.

“We wanted to make sure the county was OK with our taking on the responsibility to have one built,” he said. They envision a new name for the facility: The Shelby County Animal Shelter and Adoption Center.

The new building will “help shelter staff do their jobs more efficiently” and “provide pets with a more humane place to wait for their forever homes,” according to the presentation.

Frey met with SCARF to discuss what kinds of problems the current shelter presents and how they could be addressed.

“Our building is very seasoned. Our purpose has outgrown our building,” she said. “All three of us on the shelter staff have had input. (A new facility) would be a great thing for us.”

Frey and SCARF members then visited shelters in four other Ohio counties to see what worked and what didn’t work in various kinds of facilities that have been built within the last five years.

The group plans to contract with a professional, shelter design company, and the board has been looking at two possibilities, Joe Laber said. When one is chosen, those professionals will help the local organization set a fundraising goal and a timeline as well as a design for the building. Among the items SCARF hopes to include in the plans are a fenced, outside area accessible to the animals, a paved parking lot, a welcome center and lobby, security systems, public restrooms, meeting rooms in which the public can visit with animals, more kennel spaces with solid walls between them, air conditioning, flush drains, a quarantine area, storage and grooming areas, laundry facilities, staff offices, and a multipurpose room for SCARF use. They envision a 6,000-square-foot facility.

“I think it’s great that the commissioners are open to those ideas,” Frey said.

The Community Foundation of Sidney and Shelby County will manage the building fund once a fundraising campaign gets underway.